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Sinhalese vs Lao


Lao
Lao vs Sinhalese


Countries

Countries
Sri Lanka   
Laos   

Total No. Of Countries
1   
14
1   
14

National Language
Sri Lanka   
Laos, Northeastern Thailand   

Second Language
Sri Lanka   
Not spoken in any of the countries   

Speaking Continents
Asia   
Asia   

Minority Language
Not spoken in any of the countries   
Not spoken in any of the countries   

Regulated By
Hela Havula (හෙළ හවුල)   
Not Available   

Interesting Facts
  • In Sinhalese language, there are many loanwords from Dravidian languages mainly Tamil, Portuguese, Dutch and English.
  • Sinhalese language has it own script/ writing system.
  
  • There is no space left between words, only between phrases or sentences in Lao language.
  • The Lao alphabets has been reformed many times over the past 50 years.
  

Similar To
Maldivian Language   
Thai Language   

Derived From
Sanskrit Language   
Pali, Sanskrit and Old Khmer Languages   

Alphabets

Alphabets in
Sinhalese-Alphabets.jpg#200   
Lao-Alphabets.jpg#200   

Alphabets
54   
33
53   
32

Phonology
  
  

How Many Vowels
18   
15
28   
20

How Many Consonants
36   
26
27   
17

Scripts
Sinhala alphabet   
Thai and Lao Braille   

Writing Direction
Left-To-Right, Horizontal   
Left-To-Right, Horizontal   

Hard to Learn
  
  

Language Levels
2   
1
6   
5

Time Taken to Learn
44 weeks   
11
44 weeks   
11

Greetings

Hello
හලෝ (halō)   
ສະບາຍດີ (sába̖ai-di̖i)   

Thank You
ඔබට ස්තුතියි (obaṭa stutiyi)   
ຂອບໃຈ (khàwp ja̖i)   

How Are You?
ඔබ කොහොමද (oba kohomada)   
ສະບາຍດີບ (sába̖ai-di̖i baw?)   

Good Night
සුභ රාත්රියක් (subha rātriyak)   
ໃນຕອນກາງຄືນ ທີ່ດີ (naitonkangkhun thidi)   

Good Evening
සුබ සැන්දෑවක් (suba sændǣvak)   
ສະ​ບາຍ​ດີ​ຕອນ​ແລງ (sa bai di ton aelng)   

Good Afternoon
සුභ සන්ධ්යාවක් (subha sandhyāvak)   
ສະ​ບາຍ​ດີ​ຕອນ​ສວາຍ (sa bai di ton suaai)   

Good Morning
සුභ උදෑසනක් (subha udǣsanak)   
ສະ​ບາຍ​ດີ​ຕອນ​ເຊົ້າ (sa bai di ton sao)   

Please
කරුණාකර (karuṇākara)   
ກະລຸນາ (kaluna)   

Sorry
සමාවන්න (samāvanna)   
ຂໍອະໄພ (khooaphai)   

Bye
බායි (bāyi)   
Sôhk dii der   

I Love You
මම ඔයාට ආදරෙයි (mama oyāṭa ādareyi)   
ຂ້ອຍ​ຮັກ​ເຈົ້າ (khony hak chao)   

Excuse Me
මට සමාවෙන්න (maṭa samāvenna)   
ຂໍ​ໂທດ (kho othd)   

Dialects

Dialect 1
Vedda   
Vientiane Lao   

Where They Speak
Sri Lanka   
Laos   

Dialect 2
Not Available   
Northern Lao   

Where They Speak
Not Available   
Laos   

Dialect 3
Not Available   
Central Lao   

Where They Speak
Not Available   
Laos   

Total No. Of Dialects
1   
1
6   
6

How Many People Speak

How Many People Speak?
16.00 million   
99+
25.00 million   
40

Speaking Population
0.25 %   
99+
Not Available   

Native Speakers
16.00 million   
39
25.00 million   
32

Second Language Speakers
2.00 million   
34
Not Available   

Native Name
සිංහල (sĩhala)   
ພາສາລາວ (pháasaa láo)   

Alternative Names
Cingalese, Singhala, Singhalese, Sinhala   
Eastern Thai, Lào, Lao Kao, Lao Wiang, Lao-Lum, Lao-Noi, Lao-Tai, Laotian, Laotian Tai, Lum Lao, Phou Lao, Rong Kong, Tai Lao   

French Name
singhalais   
lao   

German Name
Singhalesisch   
Laotisch   

Pronunciation
Not Available   
pʰáːsǎː láːw   

Ethnicity
Sinhalese people   
Not Available   

History

Origin
3   
1283 CE   

Language Family
Indo-European Family   
Tai-Kadai Family   

Subgroup
Indo-Iranian   
Tai   

Branch
Indic   
Not Available   

Language Forms
  
  

Early Forms
Sinhalese Prakrit   
No Early forms   

Standard Forms
Modern Sinhalese   
Lao   

Language Position
70   
99+
Not Available   

Signed Forms
Not Available   
Not Available   

Scope
Individual   
Individual   

Code

ISO 639 1
si   
lo   

ISO 639 2
  
  

ISO 639 2/T
sin   
lao   

ISO 639 2/B
sin   
lao   

ISO 639 3
sin   
lao   

ISO 639 6
Not Available   
Not Available   

Glottocode
sinh1246   
laoo1244   

Linguasphere
No data available   
No data available   

Types of Language
  
  

Language Type
Living   
Living   

Language Linguistic Typology
Subject-Object-Verb   
Subject-Verb-Object   

Language Morphological Typology
Fusional   
Isolating   

Countries >>
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Sinhalese and Lao Language History

Comparison of Sinhalese vs Lao language history gives us differences between origin of Sinhalese and Lao language. History of Sinhalese language states that this language originated in 3 whereas history of Lao language states that this language originated in 1283 CE. Family of the language also forms a part of history of that language. More on language families of these languages can be found out on Sinhalese and Lao Language History.

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Sinhalese and Lao Greetings

People around the world use different languages to interact with each other. Even if we cannot communicate fluently in any language, it will always be beneficial to know about some of the common greetings or phrases from that language. This is where Sinhalese and Lao greetings helps you to understand basic phrases in Sinhalese and Lao language. Sinhalese word for "Hello" is හලෝ (halō) or Lao word for "Thank You" is ຂອບໃຈ (khàwp ja̖i). Find more of such common Sinhalese Greetings and Lao Greetings. These greetings will help you to be more confident when conversing with natives that speak these languages.

Sinhalese vs Lao Difficulty

The Sinhalese vs Lao difficulty level basically depends on the number of Sinhalese Alphabets and Lao Alphabets. Also the number of vowels and consonants in the language plays an important role in deciding the difficulty level of that language. The important points to be considered when we compare Sinhalese and Lao are the origin, speaking countries, language family, different greetings, speaking population of these languages. Want to know in Sinhalese and Lao, which language is harder to learn? Time required to learn Sinhalese is 44 weeks while to learn Lao time required is 44 weeks.

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